Chapter 203 Fractures

Chapter 203 Fractures
The front door swung open before Piper even had the chance to reach for the handle.
“Helloooo, Mrs Sage Moore! Looking young as ever. Thanks for having me!”
Ember walked inside carrying a small bag, dropping it onto the floor with a loud thud.
Sage looked up from the kitchen counter, where she had been chopping vegetables for dinner, and laughed.
“Ember, you didn't even knock properly.”
“I did knock,” Ember replied without missing a beat, already wandering farther into the living room. 
Piper stepped in behind her and closed the door. Turning her attention to her mother, “She invited herself,” she said, slipping off her shoes.
“I heard that,” Ember called over her shoulder.
“I wanted you to hear it.”
Ember pressed a hand dramatically to her chest.
“And yet I still chose to come. That’s dedication to our friendship.”
Sage shook her head with an amused smile as she wiped her hands on a kitchen towel.
“You’re always welcome here, Ember. You know that.”
Ember turned toward her with an exaggerated grin.
“I appreciate the official approval, Mrs Moore.”
Sage pointed the towel at her.
“How many times have I told you? Just Sage is fine.”
“Never. Respect must be maintained. If I start calling you Sage, next thing you know I’ll be calling lecturers by their first names.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works.”
“It absolutely is.”
Piper let out a quiet laugh.
At least for a little while.
Ember dropped onto the sofa with enough confidence to convince anyone it belonged to her.
She stretched comfortably before looking at Piper.
“So…”
Her playful expression disappeared.
“You’re really not going to tell me what’s going on?”
Piper stopped halfway to the stairs.
She looked toward Sage before lowering her eyes.
“I didn’t mean to get involved in any of this,” she said quietly. “It just… happened.”
Ember folded one leg beneath herself.
“What happened?”
Piper rested her backpack on her lap.
“It fell into my bag.”
Ember raised an eyebrow.
She unzipped the backpack just enough to look inside before closing it again almost immediately.
“I’ve been thinking about it all day.”
“What is it?”
Piper hesitated.
Then she lowered her voice.
“It’s Irene’s journal, it fell fromCecil's bag.”
The room fell silent.
Even Sage paused, her body locking visibly.
Ember blinked once.
Then twice.
“…You’re joking.”
Piper slowly shook her head. “No.”
A slow smile spread across Ember’s face. Not an amused smile.
The kind she wore whenever she thought she’d been proven right.
“I knew it.”
Piper sighed quietly.
“Ember…”
“I knew it wouldn’t take long before that bubbly, two-faced girl did or had something suspicious.”
Piper looked up sharply.
“Stop.”
“What?”
“We don’t know that.”
Ember folded her arms.
“She conveniently loses the journal of the one woman nobody talks about?”
“She didn’t lose it on purpose.”
“You don’t know that.”
Piper leaned back against the chair.
“I still don’t trust her,” Ember said.
Piper wrapped both hands around the warm mug Sage had placed in front of her.
“I don’t think Cecil is hiding something because she wants to hurt anyone.”
Ember looked at her carefully.
“You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself.”
Piper didn’t answer immediately because part of her wondered if Ember was right.
Not that Cecil had done something wrong. But she was hiding something.
Her fingers unconsciously rested against the backpack beside her.
The journal was still inside.
Ember stayed because she had already decided she wasn’t leaving.
“I’m sleeping over tonight,” she announced, pulling her bags and revealing her pyjama set.
Sage walked past the living room carrying a stack of folded blankets. She looked between them before smiling knowingly.
“I’ll get the pillows ready.”
Piper gave her an apologetic look. “You really don’t have to, Mom.”
“Oh, I know,” Sage said with a laugh. “But arguing with Ember sounds far more exhausting.”
Ember pointed proudly at Sage.
“See? She understands me.”
“She tolerates you,” Piper corrected.
“Tomato, tomahto.”
Sage shook her head with another amused smile before disappearing down the hallway.
Piper watched her go before turning back to Ember.
“You really don’t have to stay.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you?” Ember’s smile softened.
“Because you’re worried.” Piper looked away.
“I’ve seen that face before,” Ember continued. “You get quiet when you’re trying to convince yourself everything’s fine.”
Piper let out a slow breath.
“I don’t know why this is bothering me so much.”
“You found Irene’s journal.”
“I know.”
“You’ve spent the whole day thinking about it.”
“I know.”
“And Cecil isn’t answering your messages.”
Piper lowered her eyes to the phone resting in her hands. The screen remained empty. “She usually answers,” Piper murmured.
“Exactly.”
Ember leaned back against the sofa, crossing one leg over the other.
“I still don’t trust her,” she admitted. “But even I have to admit this is starting to feel… off.”
Piper looked at her.
“You think something happened?”
“We can't be sure. I just know people don’t disappear from their phones for hours without a reason.”
Piper unlocked her screen again.
Still nothing.
She typed another message.
Hey. I still have your journal. Let me know when you’re free.
She stared at it for a moment before pressing send.
The message didn't deliver.
Piper set the phone on the coffee table and rubbed her forehead.
“I hate this and I keep thinking maybe I’m overreacting.”
“And are you?”
“I don’t know.”
Sage returned carrying pillows and blankets, setting them neatly on one end of the sofa.
“There we are,” she said. “Our unexpected guest is officially accommodated.”
Ember smiled brightly.
“Thank you, Mrs…”
Sage raised an eyebrow.
Ember sighed dramatically. “Thank you… Sage.”
“There,” Sage said with a satisfied smile. “That wasn’t so difficult.”
“I still feel like I’ve committed a crime.”
Piper laughed quietly.
The tension in the room eased for a moment.
Sage looked at both girls.
“Dinner’s ready.”
They gathered around the dining table, falling into lighter conversation as they ate. Ember complained about one of her lecturers, Sage shared a story from her artwork, and Piper listened more than she spoke, smiling whenever Ember exaggerated another tale.
It almost felt like an ordinary evening.
Almost.
Every few minutes, Piper’s eyes moved back to her phone.
The screen never lit up.
By the time dinner was over, the dishes had been washed, and the television was on, nothing had changed.
Ember had claimed half the sofa beneath one of the blankets, pausing the movie every few minutes to offer commentary.
“That character is making a terrible life decision.”
She pressed pause again.
“Nope. Absolutely not. If you hear a strange noise in the basement, you don’t investigate it.”
Piper shook her head.
“Can we actually watch the movie?”
“We are watching it.”
“You’ve paused it six times.”
“Seven.”
Piper laughed despite herself.
Eventually, Ember let the movie play uninterrupted.
The room fell quiet again.
Piper reached for her phone one last time.
Still nothing.
Ember noticed. “You’re still thinking about her.”
Piper nodded. “She hasn’t replied. She always replies.”
Ember looked at the blank television screen for a long moment before speaking.
“I still don’t like her,” she admitted quietly. “But even I think this is weird now.”
Piper turned toward her.
“Tomorrow,” she said. “We’ll go and see her ourselves.”
Ember met her eyes, then gave a single nod.
“Good.”
Neither of them realised that by this time tomorrow, they would wish Cecil had simply answered her phone.